Top News:
Aaron Royce / Daily Front Row:
Anna Wintour told staffers she is stepping down as American Vogue's EIC but will remain Condé Nast's chief content officer and Vogue's global editorial director — Surprise! Anna Wintour is stepping down from her role at American Vogue. Wintour—who's led American Vogue as editor …
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Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
The BBC launches a subscription of $49.99 per year, or $8.99 per month, for US users to get unlimited access to its news, features, and a BBC News livestream — Move is significant step forward in driving overseas revenue for the UK's public service broadcaster
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Verge, Broadband TV News, The Hollywood Reporter, Press Gazette, Nieman Lab, Broadcast, BBC, Media Play News, Decode TV, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Reuters, @hleehurley.com, @mediaevan.bsky.social, Streaming Better, Rebecca Glashow on LinkedIn, Variety, Michael Savage on LinkedIn, Telegraph, @socialmedialab.ca, Advanced Television, TVNewsCheck and Deadline
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A group of authors sue Microsoft in a NY federal court, claiming the company used nearly 200,000 pirated books without permission to train its Megatron AI model — Microsoft (MSFT.O) has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission …
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Isaiah Poritz / Bloomberg Law:
A US judge rules that Meta's use of books to train Llama is protected by fair use but says his opinion is more a reflection of the plaintiffs' poor arguments
Discussion:
Reuters, MediaPost, Publishers Weekly, CNET, Ars Technica, Digital Music News, Pivot to AI, CMU, IPWatchdog.com, PCWorld, UPI, eWeek, Engadget, Authors Alliance, KnowTechie, Shelly Palmer, WinBuzzer, The Decoder, The Hans India, @isaiahporitz, The Economic Times, Variety, The Information, Maginative, Digit, SiliconANGLE, The Japan Times, Proactiveinvestors UK, Cryptopolitan, implicator.ai, Benzinga, Newser, Bloomberg, CNBC, TechCrunch, The Verge, Financial Times and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
How brands are helping finance Hollywood projects in the planning stages and collaborating more closely with talent, distributors, and production companies — Marketers are pushing for their brands to appear in more movies and TV shows, and entertainment execs are adjusting the way things are done to let them in
Discussion:
Marketing Dive, @mediaevan, TVNewsCheck and Adweek
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple execs discussed starting their own theatrical distribution unit; Warner Bros. is distributing the F1 movie and getting a share of the box office — Six years after getting into entertainment, Apple lags behind its rivals in streaming subscribers and mainstream appeal, despite lavish spending on A-list stars
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BGR, iClarified, @tvgrimreaper, @tvgrimreaper, People, AppleInsider, Mirror, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, MacTech.com, Spyglass, MacDailyNews, Parker Ortolani, Moviefone News, Variety and The Rebound, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Charter and Disney expand their 2023 carriage agreement, bringing Hulu's ad-tier to Spectrum TV customers and restoring eight previously removed cable channels — Spectrum TV Select customers will soon get access to Hulu included in their subscription, as Freeform, FXX and other channels that were cut two years ago return.
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
UK ministers take the unusual step of ordering secrecy over the names of four media companies that responded to a consultation on foreign newspaper ownership — Revealed: Crossbench peers scrutinising proposed law change say they were told not to share companies involved
Discussion:
@glynmoody@mastodon.social, @premnsikka.bsky.social and @michaelsavage.bsky.social
Mike Rogoway / Oregonian:
The Portland Tribune and two sister papers will cease their print editions after major newsroom layoffs, while the Gresham Outlook will reduce its print output — The Portland Tribune and two sister papers in Milwaukie and Oregon City plan to cease their print editions, according to the papers' parent company, Carpenter Media.
Discussion:
OPB, Local News Initiative, MediaPost, Portland Business Journal and r/Portland
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Amazon says Prime Video in India caters to “subscription-ready” customers while Amazon MX Player is aimed at those transitioning from traditional media — Amazon is playing a dual-platform game in India's competitive streaming landscape, with Prime Video targeting subscription-ready consumers …
Discussion:
C21Media, Fortune India, BMI, The Hollywood Reporter, WORLD SCREEN, Advanced Television and MediaNews4U
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
DirecTV strikes a distribution agreement with Paramount Global, and unveils a $20/month MyKids plan with content from Paramount, Disney, WBD, and more — CBS-owned broadcast stations and cable networks like MTV, Paramount Network, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon are joining DirecTV's streaming genre-based packages.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Sports Business Journal, MediaPost, The Streamable, TV Tech, CNET, Pocket-lint, The Wrap, DIRECTV, How-To Geek, Deadline, TVREV and Cord Cutters News
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
As AI kills search traffic, Google launches Offerwall, a Google Ad Manager tool to help publishers generate revenue beyond ads, including via micropayments — Google's AI search features are killing traffic to publishers, so now the company is proposing a possible solution.
Discussion:
MediaPost, @davidclinchnews, @benmullin, @justinling.ca, Ad Age, Google, Search Engine Journal, Press Gazette and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Audacy says it will close its Pineapple Street podcast studio, exiting the business of distributing shows for outside parties and leading to job cuts — Audacy, the radio station owner backed by billionaire George Soros, said Thursday it will close its Pineapple Street podcast studio …
Discussion:
@hateitorlevitt.bsky.social
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube launches an AI Overviews-like carousel for searches related to shopping, places, and things to do in a specific place, for Premium users in the US — YouTube is rolling out new AI-powered features to help users find content and information more easily, the company announced on Thursday.
